Rovers want fans to defy Dragons

Featherstone Rovers want a fervent home crowd to unsettle the Catalan Dragons in the cup today

FEATHERSTONE ROVERS' fourth-round Challenge Cup tie against Catalans Dragons at Post Office Road today represents as big a test of the progress being made by one of the game's most famous names off the field as it does on it.

The size of the crowd could be as important as the score in convincing authorities that Rovers' ambitions of regaining their former eminence have substance. "I don't anticipate they'll bring a great deal of spectators and we had quite a poor performance at Halifax in our last game, so if we get more than 1,200 I'll be satisfied," said Andy Prout, Rovers' chief executive. "That doesn't sound a lot but it's 10% of our catchment area, and if Leeds were doing that they'd need a new stadium twice the size of Wembley."

It is a far cry from the days when crowds of 17,000 were squeezing into the ground. In